Coalition's 'regional rorts' make a comeback, says Labor

Chief political correspondent

The scheme has sent money to projects "in the nation's 15 most-marginal seats": Opposition shadow minister for regional development Julie Collins.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in the Abbott government's Community Development Grants scheme have been tipped into projects in Coalition-held marginal seats in what Labor says is a return to the bad old days of electoral pork barrelling under the Howard government.

An opposition analysis of funding allocations under the Commonwealth grants scheme has found community projects in Coalition electorates, many of them marginal seats, appear to have been more successful in attracting federal tax dollars to kick them along, than those projects in non-Coalition seats.

It suggests these projects have garnered more than $6 for every $1 disbursed from the program to projects in non government seats.

But the government rejects the claim, and says many of the projects had been selected by the previous government.

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Labor has accused the Abbott government of reviving the notorious "regional rorts" program which was found by the Auditor-General in 2005 to be have been inappropriately run.

The opposition's analysis has been done by studying the federal government's $314 million scheme and establishing in which electorates the projects funded are located.

According to that assessment, it found that of $307 million allocated in the Community Development Grants program, $257 million had been directed to projects in Liberal or Nationals-held federal electorates, compared to $30 million in Labor held seats, and nearly $19 million in seats held by independents.

The opposition's shadow minister for regional development, Julie Collins, said the assessment also found that the scheme has sent money to projects "in the nation's 15 most-marginal seats"

The scheme scheduled to end in mid-2017 was established to directly fund community projects using Commonwealth grants between $2000 and $13 million.

However, the government completely rejected the assertion, arguing the program was a clean-up of the late Labor government's Regional Development Australia Fund, which had listed multiple projects but then failed to fund them.

The government website explaining the CDG scheme says: "The program will fund projects including the 2013 election commitments and some identified uncontracted projects from the Regional Development Australia Fund and Community Infrastructure Grants Program."

A spokesman for Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Warren Truss said the Labor version of events was wrong.

"The purpose of the Community Development Grants was to mop up the mess Labor left behind as a result of announcing, but failing to fund, projects under rounds two, three and four of the former Regional Development Australia Fund, as well as delivering on Coalition election commitments," he said.

"As such, most of the projects funded under the Community Development Grants were identified by the previous Labor government."

Ms Collins called on the government to justify the numbers.

"Prime Minister Tony Mr Abbott must explain this disparity, which looks like a throwback to the infamous regional rorts scandal of 2007, when an Auditor-General's report found the government had handed out money for pet projects in defiance of departmental advice and acceptable standards of public administration," she said.

"Grants were given to a Queensland pub to run 'Whacky Wednesdays' and 'stunt bikini babes' and to support a railway project that had already gone broke.

"It is becoming clear that Tony Abbott and the Coalition are back to their old tricks and have created the Community Development Grants (CDGs) to use as a slush fund."

Ms Collins, accused the Prime Minister of "telling the communities of Australia he will support them only if they return Coalition MPs".

"This is an outrageous use of taxpayer dollars, given there are communities all over Australia that would equally benefit from government investing in local projects.

Announcing the CDG in December, Mr Truss and assistant minister Jamie Briggs said they represented the delivery of its election commitments by "providing up to $342 million toward around 300 community projects across Australia".

"Many projects under the old RDAF ... had contracts ready to go but they were left in limbo by Labor before the election."

129 comments

So there is not much hope of getting grants in Indi ? We gave Sophie Mirabella the BIG A and voted in the lovely non-toxic Cathy McGowan. With social media, the kids in the country have a lot of POWER. In a minute there will be another 'Mirabella Moment' in Euroa.

Commenter

adam

Location

yarrawonga

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 4:49AM

I think this government will be terrible for small country towns.

The whole of the australian outback community is in danger of collapse. Petrol getting more expensive? Seriously? Cutting off their youth allowance? Drought relief gone? Huh?

Some of these communities get by on a shoe string. Tony will plow through those in no time.

There's nothing better for the Green vote than Tony Abbott.

Commenter

sarajane

Location

melbourne

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 5:37AM

adam, you'll be getting bugger all. The Liberals are punishers. Did you really expect to be rewarded for giving Sophie the boot?

Commenter

Party Stooge

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 6:41AM

Indi no longer counts. Well played people of Indi. You used to be important and now you are no longer relevant - Just like this story suggests,if it is not a government marginal seat there will be no cash. Good luck with Twitter, but you can't pay for a hospital or any infrastructure with a hash tag, no matter how many keyboard #hacktivists you have. Cathy can do nothing but agitate from the cross bench, her vote is not needed by the Gov. Congratulations once again Indi for voting yourself into irrelevance.

Commenter

Cwitty

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 6:57AM

Gosh, it must be great to be a labor voter- you can just nullify personal responsibility and blame everything on the government.

Lefty- I demand free education.Liberal- I demand you pay for your free education.Lefty- No, it's inconvenient to my lifestyle, besides, the state has money and the state should pay.

Lefty- I demand boat people are taken in, housed, clothed and fed in Australia.Liberal- Why don't you take them into your own home and give of yourself?Lefty- That's inconvenient. No, it's the states problem because the state has money.

Lefty- A woman's body is her own.Liberal- So why don't you give birth to that baby and adopt it out when there are couples who are desperate for a child?Lefty- No, that's inconvenient. No, it's my choice because abortion is a perfectly acceptable form of contraception.

So, the new inconvenience for today is that we're not allowed to mention the alp wants to keep throwing billions at holden and ford. What is that number again?# Oh that's right- $30bn in tax payer funds has gone towards the car industry to keep UNIONISTS in jobs.

Maybe you writers at fairfax can *contrive a better beat up* for today?

Try a little harder in future.F-

Commenter

Alex

Location

Finley

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:21AM

Adam, the toxic Mirabella losing Indi was the highlight of the last election.But,wait a minute,Abbott has rewarded her with a top public service job.Favors for mates and pork barreling are Abbott Art Forms.Another slogan.

Commenter

Arthur

Location

Mt Eliza

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:29AM

Cwitty, are you for real?At the next election, facing a 10% swing, LNP will have to write off many of the marginal seats that they won, as they won't be able to afford to defend them. But they will see Indi as winnable. So they will throw all manner of pork barreling at Indi.On the other hand, my nearby electorate (xery safe Nats) is missing out big time. we are the dumb ones, not Indi.

Commenter

bg2

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:47AM

Sara - like every other leftist, you are wrong.

Regional Australia has always been far better served by the Coalition than the alp. Fact.

Commenter

Kit Walker

Location

St Kilda

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:52AM

Labor uses the public purse for vote buying all the time, but they consider that right & just. But as soon as the Coalition designates money to be spent on much needed regional development projects, Labor immediately labels it a rort.

Is there a bigger party of hypocrites than the modern day Labor Party? I think not.

Commenter

jane

Date and time

August 29, 2014, 7:56AM

@adam, so you haven't seen the disease called LNP eating NewCastle with it's corruption. So shameful they didn't even have guts to stand new candidates in by election after their entire members group for NC had to resign for taking cash bribes.